With Thanksgiving behind us and the “Light up the Town” activities complete, the lights and decorations around town remind us all of the coming of this Christmas season. The square is lit up outlining all of the buildings and that is one more of the special things that make Mason such a wonderful small town to call home. Of course with the many things that need to be done at this time of year we all seem to run short of time and that is a problem with the city staff as well. With the short weeks caused by the holidays, both past and to come, the garbage pickup is a little less predictable and so some customers have been left with extra trash to deal with. If you have this problem please let us know at the city office and we will try to find a reasonable solution, but most especially make a note of the modified schedule as it is published here in the paper, and put out your trash in plenty of time to be picked up on the day you are scheduled.

With the fall weather we have been enjoying, the trees around town have been particularly vibrant and colorful for the past few weeks. At least one resident commented to me that they did not remember a prettier fall display of reds, orange and yellows in many years, and I have to agree. With the past couple of days of cold and high winds many of those leaves are coming down and are covering the yards and landscapes around town. Beginning this week the city has started the fall leaf pickup and city crews are running the leaf “vacuum” truck to collect your leaf piles. Please rake or blow your leaves to the edge of the street and we will come around and whisk them away. If you have questions, please call the city office at 347-6449 and the staff will try to help you.

In the previous paragraph and in last week’s column as well, I have suggested that you call the city office and let the staff try to help you. I have suggested this many times in the past as well, and I am aware that at times individual citizens do not feel as though the city staff listens or tries to meet their needs. We at the city try very hard to meet the many different needs of our community, but at times the individual sees only the problem they have to deal with at that time. It is a tricky balancing act to keep all of the various departments and services working smoothly, but we know our job priority is customer service even when we are not sure just what to do at the particular moment. I hope you realize that the city’s responsibility is to work for the good of the entire community and provide services to everyone fairly and equally, and sometimes it takes a few extra minutes and perhaps much longer, to work out how to do that for some of the more interesting problems that come up. If the city office can not seem to find a good answer for you, please let your commissioner or I know, and we will try to find a fair and good solution. I know that several citizens have come to me for solutions during the past couple of months, and a few have taken some time and compromise to work out, but I promise that everyone who brings an issue to my attention will be heard, and if there is a possible solution we will try to work it out.

Mason is a great hometown, and it is even better when we all work together to find the ways to meet our needs in ways that benefit the community and help all of us to live a little better where we are. This is a wonderful time of year to be a part of this special community, and I hope you take a few moments to enjoy your neighbors, your family and friends and most especially take time to enjoy Mason as we look forward to this Christmas season and the excitement of the New Year around the corner.

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